The main drawback of the 4-5-1

Thus far most of my analysis of the 4-5-1 has been positive. This is probably because the result against Jamaica was so positive. However, every formation has its strengths and weaknesses, and the weakness of the 4-5-1 is that it depends on you keeping possession for it to work properly. Against a technically gifted side (like Spain, just as a random example that has nothing to do with recent friendlies or pitiful results) that is able to cause turnovers and rarely gives up possession, the 4-5-1 produces the exact opposite results as it did against Jamaica.

If you are constantly under pressure from the opposing team and unable to build possession, you are fighting a losing battle. The four defenders and five midfielders effectively form a shell around the penalty box, leaving the striker on an island as the only attacking player. If the other team maintains possession and pressure, once you win the ball you are forced to quickly release it, but there is nobody there to link the play to the forwards, so the only option is to clear the ball. Since your striker can only be at one place at one time, the majority of these clearances wind up being won by the opposing teams defenders, who reset possession and repeat the process again. At that point you are essentially playing not to lose, which in my book is worse than losing itself.

I don't think Panama has the quality to be able to pose this kind of problem tonight, but going forward this is something I will be following closely. Can the U.S. cultivate the type of skills and movement required to possess the ball against more technical sides? If we want to take the next step, and if that step is going to come under the 4-5-1, that will probably be the key.

UPDATE: Apparently Bob Bradley agrees with me, some of his comments on the 4-5-1 courtesy of ESPN:
"In an ideal world, when you get good movement, the forward is not alone that often," said Bradley. "But there are still ways [in which] other people are moving quickly when necessary to join in and be available so that you aren't just leaving him stranded. One of the things that becomes key to make that happen is you need to be able to move the ball well. If it's a day when you're under pressure, and you've got a lot of guys back, and now when you get the ball you're pressed right away and all you can do is play it up to the forward, he's going to feel like he's on his own. But if it's a day where as a team, you're good with the ball, then there are times when it doesn't really look like one forward."
I guess we agree on one thing at least :)